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Device for Grinding and Polishing Needles.

No. 237,763. Patented Feb. 15,1881.

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N-PETERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D C.

' UNITED STATES Parent Drains.

ALEXANDER E. MCDONALD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

DEVICE FOR GRINDING AND POLISHING NEEDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,763, dated February '15, 1881.

Application filed December 16, 1880; (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER E. MO- DONALD, a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Devices for Grinding and P01- ishing Needles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a convenient instrument for pointing blunted sewin g-machine and other needles.

Heretofore various devices have been employed for accomplishing this purpose. A common emery-wheel is often used; but this requires a rotative mechanism only found on some kinds of sewing-machines. A ring of emery or vuloanite has also been employed. In using this the needle is held in the fingers and carried around the inside of the ring, the blunted point being held in contact with the abrasive surface in such a way as to grind the point sharp. This operation is quite difficult to perform, except after long practice, and an attempt has been made to guide the needle by passing it through an eye arranged over the center of the grinding-ring. This latter device, while an improvement on the ring alone, is useless where the needle to be pointed is curved, and it is not well adapted to needles of difi'erent sizes and lengths.

To remedy the above defects is the object of my present invention, which I will now describe with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the instrument. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal mid-section of the same. Fig. 4. is a plan with the rotating plate removed. Fig. 5 is a modification, which will be more particularly hereinafter referred to.

Let A represent a neat handle or stock, preferably of wood, with an annular socket turned or formed in its top, in which is set an annulus or ring, B, of emery or other abrasive material. This ring may be fixed or removable, and I prefer that its inner face shall be beveled or coned, as shown.

C is a rotative plate, made, by preference, to fit within the rim of the stock. This plate rests upon a central boss or support, a, which is alittle less in diameter than the internal diameter of the ring B, and which may or may not form a part of the stock A. The plate rotates. around an axial screw or pin, 1). v

Over the annular spacebetween the ring B and the boss a is an aperture, 0, in the plate 0, which is slightly elongated to form a slot, and its longest axis arranged obliquely to the radius, (see dotted line,) as clearly shown in .Fig. 2.

The operationof pointing a needle is as follows: The stock is grasped with the left hand, and the needle between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, the extremity to be pointed projecting. This portion is inserted through the aperture 0 until the thumb rests on the plate 0, and the needle is pressed firmly up to the ring B. The needle is now carried around along with the plate C, and the abrasive action of the emery-ring upon it equally on all sides brings it to a line point.

The curved inner face of the emery-ring serves to cone the needle properly at the point, if it be inserted parallel to the axis of rotation; but by inclining the needle the coning of the point may, of course, be varied. The obliquity of the slotted aperture 0 causes the needle, when rotated to the right, to press closely against the ring, and prevents it from slipping toward the center in rotating the plate.

The plate 0 serves as a support and guide for the thumb of the operator, and enables him to hold the needle steadily. It also serves to inelose the annular space inside the grinding-ring, and to prevent the dust and abrasive particles from escaping. Should the face of the emery-ring become smooth or glassy from long use, the plate 0 may be taken off and the grinding-face washed. The ring may be made removable for this purpose.

It is often desirable to have two abrasive rings-one for grinding and one for polishing the needle. Two distinct'instruments having emery-rings of different degrees of fineness might be'employed for this purpose; but I prefer to employ the construction shown in section in Fig. 5. In this two rings, B and B, are arranged concentrically in the stock--one (preferably the outer) being for grinding and the other for polishing. These may be constructed in one piece, as shown, or made separately, as desired. In this construction Iemploy, of course, two apertures in the plate 0, (lettered c and c in Fig. 5.)

To the butt of the stock A is attached a device for shaping the needle. This consists, essentially, of a metal knob, D, having a V- shaped notch, d, formed in it, as shown.

Having thus described my invention and set forth its distinctively novel features, I

2. The combination, with the stock, of the abrasive annulus and the rotative plate, provided with an elongated needle-aperture, arranged obliquely to the radius of the plate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The-combination, with the stock having a recess formed in its end, of the abrasive annulus having a coned inner face and set into said recess, and the rotative covering-plate, provided with an elongated obliquely-arranged needleaperture, and arranged to rotate on a supporting-boss and around an axial screw or pin, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I have-hereunto signed my namein thepreseneeot' two subscribing Witnesses.

ALEXANDER ELMER MCDONALD.

Witnesses ARTHUR G. FRASER, HENRY GoNNE'rT. 

